I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 51 Children's Test
On the evening of the fourth day of March, Wu Yaoxing's family next door added a pot to cook. Xu Qing could smell the delicious aroma of stewed old hen across the shop.

Tomorrow is the day when Wu Wencai will take the examination for Tongsheng. Although his cousin Wu Zhiyuan has taken the examination for Tongsheng in his early years, he will also have to go to the provincial capital in a few days to take the provincial examination to become a student.

The so-called students are what the common people often call scholars.

For ordinary people, passing the imperial examination is a major event in life!
Therefore, Wu Yaoxing did not save on food for several days in a row. There was fish and meat for almost every meal of the day at home. Even after breakfast in the morning and feeding in the afternoon, they would light a fire and have a midnight snack at night.

Every time it’s mealtime, the aroma wafting from next door is enough to make a zombie hungry.

However, low-level zombies have a limited diet, consisting mainly of plasma. Even if there are a few edible fruits, such as bayberries, incense sticks, and persimmons, they cannot be consumed in large quantities.

Those are just items that are rich in certain elements and can provide zombies with some specific nutrients.

Xu Qing speculated that these may have a certain maintenance effect on the corpse's teeth, nails, and hair.

For example, after consuming candles made of animal fat and bay oil for a long time, his newly grown hair became noticeably more luxuriant and smoother and finer in color.

He strongly suspected that the oil secreted was actually his own corpse oil.

So every few days, he has to remove hair and oil, grind teeth and trim nails.

"The three types of wandering corpses cannot eat grains or drink sweet springs like ordinary people. The three types of crouching corpses are still alienated categories. Only when they reach the stage of not turning into bones can they be free from all taboos."

Xu Qing lit a candle, his nose filled with the aroma of wax and smoke, while he held a book about corpses and read quietly.

As for tomorrow's children's exam, he was not at all worried.

The books and scriptures he had obtained earlier from the salvation of the scholar who had jumped into the river contained articles from the classics of all dynasties, and he was already familiar with them. Besides, the examination for the status of a student was not for the status of a scholar or a juren, so there were not many questions that required on-the-spot performance.

On the fifth day of March, the Tongshi examination officially begins.

Early in the morning, the two boys from Wu Yaoxing's family banged on the door of Xu Qing's shop. Xu Qing did not return to the Shuimenqiao house last night, and they caught him red-handed.

Wu Yaoxing, carrying a lunch box, saw the two boys knocking on their neighbor's shop door so early in the morning. He said angrily, "Wencai is going to take the exam on his own today. Why are you bothering your neighbors to accompany him?"

Wu Zhiyuan asked doubtfully, "Brother Xu and Wencai registered for the spring exam together at the government office the day before yesterday. He must be going to take the exam today. Doesn't Dad know about this?"

"Is that true?" Wu Yaoxing looked puzzled.

Everyone runs a funeral shop, so why do you want to take the imperial examination?
"Let's not talk about that for now. Zhiyuan, what were you yelling about just now? Didn't I say that was your Uncle Xu?"

"Dad, you really are! Brother Xu is just a mature man who started his own business early. He's not actually that old, so why do you have to call him uncle?"

Wu Yaoxing glared and said, "I'm on equal terms with him, and you're calling him that. How can you be so rude?"

While the father and son were bickering, the door of the coroner's shop was opened, and Xu Qing appeared and said, "Old Wu, what Zhiyuan said is not without reason. We don't have a big house, so why should we be so particular?"

After closing the shop door, Wu Yaoxing saw Xu Qing was empty-handed, wearing only a neat robe, and couldn't help asking, "Are you going to take the exam like this? Without any food or water?"

Xu Qing glanced at the food box in Wu Yaoxing's hand, as well as the bookcase filled with pens, inkstones, paper and various books, and wondered:
"I'm going to take the Tongsheng exam. The exam is in the courtyard next to the government office. The exam will be completed on the same day and the papers will be issued on the same day. It's not like I'm going to the capital to take the exam, so why would I need to bring so much baggage with me?"

"Besides, pens, ink, paper, and inkstones are all distributed by the examination center, so we don't need to bring our own. Even if we did, they wouldn't let us bring them into the examination room to prevent cheating. It's better to go empty-handed and finish the exam early so we can go home sooner."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yaoxing turned to look at Wu Zhiyuan, who had provided reference experience, and said hesitantly, "Is that true?" Wu Zhiyuan nodded helplessly.

But in the end, Wu Yaoxing still carried the lunch boxes and sent them to the examination room.

This is the pitiful love of parents all over the world. When their children go on a long journey, they are always worried that they don’t have enough money or clothes. Even if they are just going to take a small test a few blocks away, they always want to make more preparations.

On the other hand, Xu Qing looked just like an ordinary passerby, walking along with his hands behind his back, and he didn't look nervous at all about the reference!

Arriving at the vacated examination hall next to the government office, Wu Yaoxing saw that almost every candidate, including their accompanying family members, was carrying large and small bags. He was so moved that he said, "Brother Xu, I'm afraid it won't work if you don't bring anything with you to the exam hall! Fortunately, I have a lot of stuff with me, so if that doesn't work, I'll share some with you."

Hearing this, Xu Qing took another look at the other person. His neighbor was quite loyal.

Fortunately, the examination system did not change. As soon as the candidates brought their own pens, ink, paper and inkstone into the examination room, all their belongings were collected by the officials.

In addition to these, there are also examination officers who specialize in cheating and conduct body searches on candidates.

Several candidates who carried cheat sheets and even hid books in their shorts were caught on the spot.

Fortunately, it was only a minor exam, so even if cheating was discovered, the worst that could happen was disqualification. If it were a formal imperial examination, according to the Dayong Law, these people would have been punished with a hundred strokes of the cane, and in serious cases, they might even have been exiled or even beheaded and their property confiscated!
When Xu Qing entered the examination room, he met many acquaintances, all of whom were officers from the third shift and sixth office of the yamen, who were assigned to the periphery to serve as officers and soldiers to maintain order.

The leader Zhao Zhonghe's face was extremely interesting when he saw Xu Qing. He was extremely puzzled, why did he keep running into this guy everywhere!
It would be fine if we met in the government office, and it wouldn't be strange to meet him in an elegant place like Shuhuang Pavilion, but damn, how come he was also in the examination hall!
Could it be that he is tired of the dead business and plans to take the imperial examination to become an official?
How could he have guessed that Xu Qing took the imperial examination just to do better in the dead body business.

With the status of a scholar, not only can one meet officials without kneeling, but one can also be exempted from taxes and labor service. Even if one is buried in the future, the family of the person will feel honored.

The person involved can also have a glorious journey to the underworld when he meets his relatives who come to pay their respects.

It sounds good when neighbors talk about it, saying that so-and-so has passed away, and his son is so filial that the funeral attendant he invited is a scholar!
After all, there are not many scholars these days.

The Tongshi exam is divided into two sessions, each with three papers. In addition to memorizing the meaning of the text, the exam also requires students to perform mathematical calculations and answer questions related to morality and etiquette.

Xu Qing quickly finished answering the first test paper, and after handing it in, the examiner naturally distributed the second test paper to him.

"This Tong exam isn't that difficult, but the Xiucai exam might not be that easy."

After all, when Xu Qing went to the yamen to register two days ago, he saw an old student who was over fifty years old still taking the re-examination!
According to others, the old student has taken the exam every year and is now 69 years old. Even his own grandson has married and has children.

When he went to register the other day, it was his son and grandson who brought him there.

From this we can see that the difficulty of passing the examination for a student is definitely no less than that of passing the examination for a civil servant.

After answering all the test questions, Xu Qing handed in his paper early.

After receiving the test paper, the examiner signaled him that he could leave the examination room.

It was still early, and the grading of the papers and the announcement of the results would have to wait until at least 3:00 p.m. Xu Qing had nothing to do, so he stopped by the yamen next door.

Two days ago, the prince was attacked by a demon from Tianxin Sect in Shuhuang Pavilion. The prince was not injured, but the incense master of the Tianxin Sect's branch in Linhe died on the spot.

Today, the bodies of the leader of Tianxin Sect and those dead believers are lying in the morgue of the government office!
Xu Qing felt that he had finally finished the Tongshi exam, so he had to find a few corpses to comfort himself.

(End of this chapter)